HSR cheerleaders regard Dan Walters as a cranky old mossback, but he does seem to have got his fingers on the jugular of the problem here. Probably the STB authorization will be clear sailing, but the 2:40 timing from SF to LA is fantasy. Nevertheless, HSRA continues to lay its ruler on the map and say, yes, we can do it -- not noticing that, though the map is flat, the territory it depicts is not.

The question is whether enough people will wake up and start asking HSRA to explain itself.